Qatar Airways To Begin Daily Service To Edinburgh From Doha

Qatar Airways announced that it will operate a daily, direct flight to the Scottish capital of Edinburgh from Doha’s Hamad International Airport from May 1, 2015.

The airline, which launched the route in May this year, operates five times a week currently. It is also the first to offer a direct air link between Edinburgh and the Middle East.

The daily service will be operated by a Boeing 787 and will give passengers greater access to a large number of destinations, the airline said in a statement. The service will also eliminate the need for any domestic transfers within the UK.

“Offering a daily service to Edinburgh is a clear reflection of the popularity of this route since its launch in May this year and the new daily service will allow Qatar Airways to further support and promote Scotland’s leisure and business opportunities to different markets on our airline’s global network,” said Akbar Al Baker, CEO, Qatar Airways Group.

The most popular destinations for those using the Edinburgh-Doha route are predominantly in Asia, and Australia, with journey times to Melbourne reduced from 26 hours with two transfers, to just 20 hours with one international transfer at Hamad International Airport, the statement said.

Edinburgh is Qatar Airways’ third destination in the UK, after it launched services to London in 1997 and Manchester in 2003.

The airline currently operates six flights a day from London Heathrow to Doha, including ‘Business One’, the all-business class A319. The airline also operates 10 flights per week from Manchester to Doha.

Gulf carriers have been introducing new services on UK routes as they see a strong demand.

Recently, Abu Dhabi-based airline Etihad also announced that it will begin a daily flight to Edinburgh on June 8, 2015. The service will be operated using a two-class Airbus A330-200 aircraft.

Etihad is also planning to introduce a second service from Scotland to Abu Dhabi in another five years time, its chief executive James Hogan said earlier this year.